Weapon of mass distraction

In gay marriage flip-flop, Obama again opts for political expediency

Chalk up another huge election-year distraction – but this time, one with lasting and uncertain implications.

Instead of debating our government’s unsustainable spending, and the danger of crashing the currency and falling into Europe’s black hole of roiling debt, or discussing how to create a new economy that leads to job growth, we’re talking about gay marriage.

However awkwardly the Obama administration got into the gay marriage arena – through Vice President Joe Biden’s getting embarrassingly out in front of his equivocating president – it’s still a useful distraction from his mournful record on the economy, energy, jobs and more.

The focus should be on reducing the deficit, growing jobs and making our nation safe. Period. But here we go again down the Boulevard of Tangents.

The president also is being disingenuous, at best, when he claims that his years-long “evolution” in thinking on gay marriage just happened to end right in-between Biden’s remarks and a star-studded fundraiser in Hollywood – and all in time to shore up his liberal base for the election.

And when he wants you to believe it’s a states’ rights issue – well, that’s the biggest joke since the last White House Correspondents Dinner. When has he ever been in favor of states’ rights? The cold, hard truth is, we’ve rarely seen a president with a dimmer view of states’ rights: His administration is currently suing several states over their immigration enforcement laws and their voter ID laws, and his National Labor Relations Board tried to prevent South Carolina from bringing in a Boeing plant. Oh, and his health-care act ignited a full-blown rebellion of more than half the states.

In addition, Mr. Obama famously decided not to enforce the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which grants states express authority not to recognize gay marriages from other states.

Nor is it as if Mr. Obama has only changed his mind since opposing gay marriage in the 2008 election cycle. Frankly, he has merely said whatever was politically expedient at the time. In 1996 when running for the Illinois Senate, he told a Chicago newspaper, “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.”

That’s not in the least bit equivocal.

Then, in 1998, he was “undecided.”

Then, in 2004, he said, “I am a fierce supporter of domestic-partnership and civil-union laws. I am not a supporter of gay marriage ...”

Somehow or another, his view “evolved” from favoring gay marriage to being undecided to being mostly against it to opposing it and then, suddenly on Wednesday, to supporting it again.

That’s not just a flip-flop or two. That’s a Slinky slinking down a stairway.

Ask yourself this: What happens when push comes to shove and someone is trying to force a church or individual opposed to gay marriage to perform, host or recognize one? Do you trust that this administration, if given a second and final term, wouldn’t go to court – as it has with a number of sovereign states – to force someone to participate in a ceremony or recognize an institution he or she finds morally objectionable?

And what happens when someone goes to court to challenge one of the 30 state prohibitions against gay marriage? It seems clear he won’t hesitate to go to battle against such states.

Though Mr. Obama’s personal views seem to change with the prevailing winds, his administration’s record is clear: Political correctness wins out over religious freedom every time. Just look at the contraception issue, in which the administration has tried to force birth control and even abortion pills on religious entities that oppose them.

Moreover, the president’s hastily thrown-together pronouncement this week is tinkering with an institution – marriage – that has been a cornerstone of human societies for all of recorded history. How can one possibly know all the repercussions? A decline in traditional marriage, for instance, already has directly led to increases in poverty and other social ills.

But heck, as long as there may be votes in it – and it diverts attention away from the state of the Union.

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for
following agreed-upon rules of civility. Posts and
comments do not reflect the views of this site. Posts and comments are
automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some
comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules,
click the "Flag as offensive" link below the comment.

Romney has consistently said marriage is between a man and a woman. Obama is the one changing the sexes of those getting married like he was that doctor at University Hospital doing the sex change operation.

Techfan-Yes AC want to go one on one, when, Obama's positions or policies aren't a flip they are a flop , I'll close Gitmo in one year epic Fail. I was against gay marriage before I was sort of against it before I, OH well I'll stick my finger in the wind today. Obama said something to the effect, when he was a Senator, If the President orders a military action without congress on a country that isn't a threat then that is impeachable, then Obama bombs Libya. If I don't turn the economy around and reduce unemployment I should be a one term president. This stimulus bill will keep unemployment below 8%. I will cut the deficit in half...I could go on for hours.. Tech fan I'll go one on one with Obama's flip flops vs Romney and see you five.. any day of the week. The Augusta chronicle is correct. This is nothing other than political theater to change the subject. In March 300,000 some American workers quite the work force and the economy produces jobs at such a slow rate that we aren't even keeping even with population growth, unemployment STILL above 8%. Fewer percent of Americans in the American work force than in 30 years. http://dailycaller.com/2012/05/07/labor-force-participation-rate-lowest-... . More people on food stamps than ever before. More people on disability than ever before. Gas prices above $3gallon. Oh lets talk about gay marriage, of course, anything other than the economy and his rotten record!..LOL Obama is a joke and I am not falling for his stupidity, and of course if Obama isn't flipping or flopping he is lying.

OBUMLER IS A LIAR--i wish it was elsewise...flying all over in air force 1 raising money.. but telling all you believers he focused in like a lazer on the economy..hes either the most incompentant prez we ever had and that saying a lot after witnessing the carter years or all this is planned to rebuild america in his own image and with your money..either way hes gotta go..

Some have learned from our President how to divert attention. Instead of focusing on the facts listed in the AC article, they want to divert the attention to comparison, doesn't matter whether the accusations are accurate. Right now I am not so much concerned about Romney (can't hurt us any worse than Obama) as I am about Obama and the blatant lies, the conniving, deceitful character of a man whom so many people have blindly considered a great president and can not see where he is so destructive to our nation.

hussein must be correct about gay marriage being THE MOST important issue at the time! the heck with the economy,unemployment,medical care,food stamps,sky-rocketing energy cost,we MUST get these gay people married as soon as possible! The economy will be great if we just allow gay marriage! Unemployment will fall below 2% if only we recognize gay marriage. energy prices will fall if we only accept gay marriages! All wars will end if we only make it lawful for gays to marry! OH HAPPY DAY!

Well Christianity has declined in America but still as of 2011 75% still claim it. This maybe a side issue but Obama maybe stickin a thorn in their side. It's the morality thing. If you've read Obama's book you see he was a drug abusing teen thug, he doesn't mind murdering citizens without due process, now civil unions isn't enough so let me stick a to religion by ending marriage as a religious institution, his ideology of "fairness" is a warped unfair (and he can't see it!!!), to Obama all religions are equal or the same (just say that to any proponet of any given religion (the adherants aren't playing)), the constitution is junk to the man , we hardly know anything of his extended family (unlike any other president in history which we knew about everything, apparently a recent study indicates Obama is the least transparent and secretive of any president, he has been caught in numerous lies-just the state of the union speech was ridiculous, etc, etc, etc (in my best Yul Brynner voice).

I guess I am just parroting everyone including ACE, but let's get this straight (no pun intended). The economy is in shambles, unemployment is out of control, we are still facing a three front war with Iran now in our gun sights, all of the tax payer funded "bailout" money vanished in smoke, illegals are flooding the borders and getting welfare, America has no manufacturing base any longer and the Obama administration is focusing on gay marriage?

While I support equal treatment under the law for all people, even those who are homosexual should be able to understand that the issue of gay marriage is at the very bottom of the list when it comes to national priorities. This is a smokescreen, just like the "I killed bin Laden tour" was and this president cares nothing about the rights of gay people anymore than he cares about the plight of both black and white people caught in the slavery of the welfare system and the hard workers that pay taxes to support that hideous beast.

But Obama is a star! He supports gay rights! Now, let's all go run to the polls and vote for him! Yeah, in the end, gay marriage might be legal in all 58 states (Obama's count not mine), but with no jobs, gas prices at all time highs and the Chinese calling in the chips while Iran prepares to nuke Israel everyone will suffer under a second Obama election...but who knows, he could find a way to just declare a national emergency and postpone that election if he thinks he might lose. After all, the Constitution is just a faded piece of paper to him.

It was 57 states, but I suddenly realize why Obama's college records are sealed-it's because they are non-existent. Yep he is another Ward Churchill-like wannabe that is faking. Makes perfect sense doesn't it. I remember hearing of a student at MCG that was actually an ex-con who made up his records to get into school. He was caught in a scam with a school secretary. It's common place.

To Obama, the presidency is little more than an American Idol contest. If he can wow with glitz and glamor, who cares about performance? Remember, this is the guy who's major qualification for the "leader of the free world" was that he was "community organizer" from a state known for political corruption. The apple does not fall far from the tree, apparently. What do you expect?

His performance in office has been questionable at best, and a disaster at worst.

But, he's smart. He can't win if the electorate focuses on the issues. So, he makes news talking about whether 2 homosexuals should be legally joined or not, and wants to redefine the human concept of marriage. The nation and the world are crumbling around him, but he's off celebrating his great "success" at George Clooney's house raising $15 million dollars for his next Idol Contest. He claims to want to distribute the wealth by stealing from the rich, but when he stands to gain from it -- he courts the rich and gladly takes their money for his benefit.

This "contestant" has got to go. I'm not a big fan of Mitt Romney, but at least he's been a governor with real executive experience. Only community Obama can effectively organize is his own bank account. He just garnered the homosexual vote and the support of the liberal Hollywood elite, but surely the majority of Americans can see that this "emperor" has no clothes.

Obama had plenty of time to address wealth disparity controlling both the executive and legislative branches and he did nothing but let taxes fall lower for the rich than when Bush was in office. Obviously he intentionally wants the gap for political voice-remember as they say in London-"watch the gap". He plays with lives and the economy for purely ecogentric and self-centered reason-his re-election. He would likely pull an Arlen Specter and change parties if the votes were there-he is evolving.

'but surely the majority of Americans can see', yes... and in the last election THEY chose the Democrat over the Republican. I really don't see the majority changing their mind, especially with the candidate the Republicans have chosen. Until the republicans can get over pandering to the extreme right wing, as a Nation, the Democrats will have a distinct advantage.

Obama makes a comment over gay marriage that the Chronicle editorial staff perceives as an irrelevant issue raised merely to excite Obama's base. I can understand that.

To me, however, the gay marriage issue was (at least this year) brought to the forefront of politics because of North Carolina's decision to amend its constitution to ban gay marriage. What about all of the problems up there in North Carolina? Outside of Raleigh-Durham, the state is not doing too well. Unemployment is high and the housing market is in shambles. Yet, North Carolina politicians (mostly Republicans) pushed to get this gay marriage amendment on the ballot (how much did that cost?) so they could ban two guys (or two women) from getting married even though such a thing was already illegal in North Carolina. Is that not a distraction when there are so many other important things in America? America is burning, but we have to make sure Rob and Steve (fictional names) don't get married!

Moreover, when numerous politicians, including Mitt Romney, are being asked about their opinions on gay marriage, is Obama simply supposed to keep quiet about the subject? I'm not a huge fan of Obama, but no matter what the man does he is villified by this newspaper.

And Obama has always been clear that he supports civil unions but is against gay marriage. I don't really understand the difference between civil unions and gay marriage other than politicians use it as a middle ground. Obama admitted that he changed his mind and now supports gay marriage. What is the big deal?

Leave to liberals to take a flip flop like Obama's change on gay marriage and call it an "evolution." If a conservative had a change like this, they'd be screaming that he's just trying to CHA. This reminds me of another liberal...Senator John Kerry, when he was down in the polls in 2004 and came out with his famous, "I voted for the war, before I voted against it." Looking at the recent polls and the state of the economy, looks like whammy Obammy is looking at the same outcome as Kerry. COME ON NOVEMBER!!

Leave to liberals to take a flip flop like Obama's change on gay marriage and call it an "evolution." If a conservative had a change like this, they'd be screaming that he's just trying to CHA. This reminds me of another liberal...Senator John Kerry, when he was down in the polls in 2004 and came out with his famous, "I voted for the war, before I voted against it." Looking at the recent polls and the state of the economy, looks like whammy Obammy is looking at the same outcome as Kerry. COME ON NOVEMBER!!

When you're a disaster, you must pander. He changes his position about 4 times and his last flop is over to the "I support" side. In the next breath he says the issue should be decided by the states. So what has he done? Nothing, except pander.Prior to this he was pandering to the "gimme a free ride" college students. His next group he will be pandering to is Hispanics with the amnesty for illegals issue. He won't do anything but provide his usual lip service but it will get him a few more votes. His performance has been abysmal, his policies all failures, his spending and debt record enormous, he's never passed a budget, he has put more radical muslim regimes in power in the middle east than muhammad, and his "signature legislation" is probably unconstitutional. Obama is a disaster domestically and in foreign policy. What else can he do but pander and hang out with his Hollywood fat cat liberals. Obama should take Clooney et. al. and move his campaign HQ down the road to Fantasyland. Home is where the heart is.

Republicans frame the issue as one of States Rights or of Christian Morality. Seems to me that both of those issues have been addressed by the Constitution and they are pandering to either Christians or those who would segregate God created human beings for their sexual preferences.

We were warned before the 2008 election that the Obama policy would not help the economy and would only *hurt the poor.
*That part has been a dramatic success.
He throws in the 1% thingy to throw the watchdogs off-scent, but he can't hide from the facts. Who was he partying with last night? Not the peons/the poor/the suffering..that is for sure.
Only the luxury class for Prez O.

For me, the big deal is, a man who professes to be my brother in Christ and professes to be a follower of Christ, publically spits in God's face when he announces nationally that even though biblically he knows that the union that Christ ordained as marriage is between a man and a woman, he is going against Christ's teachings and publically proclaim that sin doesn't matter to him. He is here to appease the world and not please the Father.

When our president was running for office, everyone complained, "no foreign policy experience". But look what he had done to eliminate terrorists. Had George Bush done what he has done, his statue would be in every city. His opinion on gay marrages is just that, his opinion. It would still be lleft up to each individual churches whether to allow a marrage to take place inside their churches. He will go down in history for his massive health-care reform, and maybe one of our greatest presidents ever. Hannity was worried about Jeremiah Wright, no one else is. He hasn't been invited to the White House yet. So, the sky is not falling! Meanwhile, I will crank up the President Obama re-election train and will be coming to your neighborhood and let you get aboard. Bainer is so afraid of the tea party in congress, he can't do the right thing like he would like to. For the Obama train, TOOT! TOOT! Coming soon to your front door!!!!

Voters who are happy with the results Obama has achieved as President will vote for him. Those who are not will not. I am not and won't. That's not going to change as a result of anything I read on these boards.

When he said he was going to "fundamentally change" America I knew what he was talking about. He was elected without my vote and I have observed the results.

If he wins in November we are doomed as a free and capitalistic society.

I've a Wikipedia article that does a better job on homosexuality and the church, but historically homosexuality has been praised. In ancient Greece serving up young boys for men's pleasure was a status symbol. What's your point. Perversion is perversion, and just because some idiot took it off the list in 73' makes no difference. Just like transgendered use to be a mental illness now no. I know everyone gets cancer cells so that is normal but not everyone will develop cancer the disease-it is considered abnormal-just like schizophrenia is abnormal. Society and culture may try all they want but homosexuality is still abnormal and a perversion by all but recent accounts. Perversion has historically included beastiality, homosexuality, pedophilia, necrophilia, etc. etc. That said, I don't care that some people practice perversions and I hold no moral judgment or value to it-likely they are all biological and genetic (likely a standard curve of behaviors). I can try to logically say that I'm bipolar, or have cancer or have PKU and that's normal but who is anyone kiddin. I look at it biologically and the fact that a few other mammals display some form homosexual-(that is really a debate) isn't an argument for acceptance -no more than for pedophiles (which is just as likely biological as homosexuality). There is normal IQ and abnormal IQ. There is nothing wrong with being abnormal, but I don't get the political correctness. I remember Down's syndrome kids were called Mongoloids but now that's offensive (they have trisomy 21 which an aneuploidy due to an abnormal nondisjunction, but who cares I still love em). I don't know what to call people with dwarfism anymore-little people?? Anyways homosexual activity is abnormal but isn't a judgement or a sentence =just a statement of fact that you prefer this rather than the norm. Most studies indicate a significant fraction of men and women experiment with it too but may taboo behaviors have appeal. Biologically and evolutinarily Sex is for reproduction and not pleasure-although it is pleasureable but it is all about DNA replicating itself. And you really open a bag of worms with any biological arguments related to homosexuality and evolution. Now I could point out some issues I have that anyone would say is abnormal well I can accept that. Seems abnormal is the new norm. hee,hee,hee. See how circular it all becomes. Normal and abnormal appear are in context with the time line of history. Blues eyes aren't the norm=OMG I'm a mutant-which is technically correct. I hope you see my point in circle. My wife and kids love me and I wouldn't say I was normal.

'publically spits in God's face'... I am for sure that many said exactly the same thing when men of good faith spoke against segregation in America. Was off key then, and remains so NOW. Kinda like denigrating science because it doesn't fit into one's paradigm of how it all works. What shifts, the facts determined or the observers belief. History is strewn with those who came kicking along. It only took the Catholic church 400 years to give Galileo his due, but they did.

Always have the unfortunate few had to suffer that the majority might advance under the developing mores of evolving civilization; but always should the favored majority look with kindness and consideration on their less fortunate fellows who must pay the price of failure to attain membership in the ranks of those ideal sex partnerships which afford the satisfaction of all biologic urges under the sanction of the highest mores of advancing social evolution.

Monogamy always has been, now is, and forever will be the idealistic goal of human sex evolution. This ideal of true pair marriage entails self-denial, and therefore does it so often fail just because one or both of the contracting parties are deficient in that acme of all human virtues, rugged self-control. UB quote

I, too, heard "fundamentally change" and knew what it meant. Too bad some others did Not grab on to that phrase and check it out. I said back when he(obama) was campaigning and after he was elected, that America would be changed for the worse, and, it has. 2008 was the beginning of the end, and if he wins again, it will be The End...........